How to Land a Job in Travel with No Experience
There simple tips can help you find a job in travel without the standard ‘2-3 years of experience needed’ you’ll see on job adverts
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In almost every career path there’s a paradox: you need experience to get hired, but you can’t gain experience without being hired.
Despite this sounding nonsensical, you can actually turn this paradox on its head and approach it more like a challenge. Maybe employers are checking how resourceful you can be in order to trust you with the role?
Whatever the reason for this approach, here are plenty of ways to break into your career in travel if you’re just starting out or want to switch careers.
Draw on whatever experience you have
Employers like to hear about what you’ve done and more importantly what you learned while doing it. If you can prove that that school project or life experience taught you resilience or communication skills, then that can plug the experience gap – as long as you know how to sell it.
If the job asks for excellent people skills, talk about a non-work-related moment where your personality or people skills were important. This could be at school, in another job or during an activity or hobby you enjoy.
Look for internships or short-term opportunities first
Internships or trials are the working world’s acid test. Can you try something completely new and pick it up on the job? That’s why internships exist.
Yes, the pay is poor and non-existent and yes, you’ll probably doing jobs that aren’t what you really want to be doing, but this is a great way of proving your willingness to succeed.
Many travel-related internships are also a great way to learn about different areas of a business, and could actually reveal what you’re good at or what you want to do if you’re still uncertain. One week you may be tour guiding, the next your working with the marketing team on a social media post – it’s a great way to learn the ins and outs of the industry while opening doors to managers you impress.
You can find internships under our job search function – just search ‘internship’ or use the category filter.
Figure out how to sell your personality and or transferrable skills
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If you already have work experience in a different career, then figure out how to apply that to the role you’re applying for. Working as a travel agent requires great people and management skills – so talk about instances where you’ve used those skills in a different area.
If you’re good with tech or know how to take a great photo, then that travel photography job you have absolutely no idea how to land suddenly boils down to how well can I link together two separate skills to make myself an asset.
It’s all about making connections to seemingly unrelated things, and sounding convincing when you’re doing it!
Take courses or gain qualifications
Many careers begin with a specific education and travel and tourism is no different. Many colleges and universities offer specific qualifications covering everything from hotel management to travel economics to sustainable travel.
An easy way to get your foot in the door is to go down the education path. If college or advanced learning is out of reach, then look for free courses from services like Alison.
You may find that just undertaking the course puts you in front of the right people.
Attend careers fairs or travel trade shows
With millions of candidates emailing their CVs or applying on wonderful sites like ours, you’re actually at an advantage if you’re willing to tread the alleys at conventions or trade shows and swap LinkedIn info / hand out resumes.
You may find that business owners will even strike up a conversation and hold the interview there and then, or at least point you down the right application route. And as for careers fairs – the whole point of them existing is to connect talent with organisations that are hiring, so find your nearest one and go with an open mind.
Work for yourself
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Working in travel doesn’t need to involve getting a traditional ‘job’. If you’re resourceful, are happy to take risks or can get someone to invest in you, then the best way to land a job is often to create one for yourself.
It’s never been a better time to become a travel influencer, with social media full of travellers sharing their short videos and getting paid to mention brands or products if their audience is big enough.
It’s also super-easy to set up your own company now, with paid setup options and of course AI able to build websites, create marketing and even collect payments and arrange taxes. Platforms like The Travel Franchise offer a complete package to start as a travel agent and you can even sell local tours in your area on sites like GetYourGuide.
